Luxion has released KeyShot 3, the next generation of Luxion’s groundbreaking rendering solution now with the new animation system.

KeyShot 3 features an all new, patent-pending animation system, major improvements to UI and workflow, over 400 new materials and new importers for NX, Parasolid, JT, Solid Edge and SolidWorks for PC and Mac.

Rather than relying on setting up keyframes, Luxion has developed a unique, patent-pending animation system based on offset transforms. These transforms can be combined to create complex part and camera animations.

Offset transforms can moved interactively in the timeline, being copied, pasted, linked with and moved to other parts.

All animations can be output to standard multi-media formats such as AVI, QuickTime®, or Flash.

Improved User Interface and Workflow: Particular attention has been paid the user interface and workflow. Many areas have been completely redesigned to make the user experience even better than before. A significant amount of new functionality has also been added. Key areas of improvements are:

Improved model interaction.

Redesigned library with all new content.

Material editing.

Texture mapping.

Dialog cleanup.

More Import Options on PC and Mac: For KeyShot 3, the import pipeline has been significantly expanded to include even more native file formats. All formats are now supported on PC and Mac. This makes KeyShot one of the first applications to support file formats of leading CAD applications on both platforms. New importers are:

NX: Support for NX 8 and prior with the ability to control tessellation.

Parasolid: Support for native Parasolid files including control of tessellation quality.

SolidWorks: Support for SolidWorks 2012 and prior (32/64bit). The tessellation can now controlled upon import.

Autodesk Inventor: Support for Autodesk Inventor 2012 and prior.

SolidEdge: Support for SolidEdge ST4 and prior with the ability to control the tessellation upon import.

FBX: The FBX Importer now supports part animation that can be imported and played back.

Availability and Pricing: KeyShot 3 is available immediately. Pricing starts at $995. The animation capabilities can be added to KeyShot 3 for $500.